Here’s what buyers and sellers need to know about our housing market. What’s happening in our housing market? To give you a better understanding of where our market is heading, I’m breaking down the latest housing numbers and explaining what they mean for our area. The beginning of the year has seen a flood of buyers coming back to our market, but is this just a flash in the pan? Let’s take a look at the latest numbers and find out.  First, let me explain how we know more buyers are entering our market. In December 2022, only about 280 properties went under contract each week. Things didn’t change much from there until the week of January 20, 2023, when there were 480 properties under contract. Just two weeks later 670 properties were under contract, which is a 26.46% increase from January. Volume has similarly increased by 21.9% in just one month.  This is fantastic news for our market, but why are buyers choosing to come back? Some of it can be chalked up to seasonality; many people wait until the holidays are over to resume their home-buying plans. However, the main reason why the spring market has come early is interest rates. Rates recently dropped back down to the high-5% range, which is the lowest they’ve been in what seems like a while.  “Sales will likely continue to increase as we head further into the spring market. ” All the relevant real estate numbers are pointing toward this trend. Last month, when rates were still high, sales were down 34.7% year over year. However, if you go back to March, the drop is even more dramatic since that’s when the spring market was at its peak. While I’m not sure if we’ll reach the heights of 2022’s market again this year, I am confident that sales will continue to increase as we head further into the spring market. Meanwhile, the median price for January 2023 was up 4.6% year over year, but it’s lower than it was in December 2022. The good news is that this shouldn’t worry you; price is a lagging indicator. In other words, it just tells us what we already knew. Meanwhile, pending sales are a predictive indicator and give us a much better idea of where our market is going.  Supply is up 140% from this time last year, but this number is a little deceiving since we still have very low inventory. Myrtle Beach only has 2.4 months of inventory as of this blog post, which still means sellers are in the driver’s seat. In fact, our low supply is the main reason prices have been relatively insulated from the recent interest rate spike. If you’re worried about a crash, just remember that we’ve had a shortage of housing supply for years now. As long as that’s the case, a crash won’t come.  Finally, year-over-year condo sales were down 47.3% last month. In March 2022, we had 804 condos close, while we only had 302 last month. However, the median price is still up 17.9% from this time last year, so condo owners shouldn’t panic. As long as supply remains low, prices will stay high.  What does this mean for you? Sellers are in the driver’s seat. Buyers are jumping back into the market, and sellers have a fantastic opportunity to get incredible deals as long as they work with the right team. If you only take one thing away from this market update, it should be this: Start planning now. The spring market has come early, and if you wait too long to make a move, you’ll have tons of competition.  If you would like to make a moving plan or have any questions, please call or email me and my team. We would love to hear from you!

We want to keep you informed so you can make the best decision possible. What’s happening in Myrtle Beach’s housing market as we close out 2022 and begin 2023? The best way to know what 2023 will look like is by understanding where our market was at the end of 2022. That’s why today, I’m breaking down the latest numbers from our December housing market. First, single-family home sales are down 52.5% year over year; however, prices have started increasing again over the last three months. On paper, this doesn’t seem to make sense. What’s really going on? https://sloanrealtygroup.tv/january-myrtle-beach-real-estate-market-update.html As you may know, the driving force behind our current market is our low inventory. There just aren’t enough homes on the market to meet demand. As a result, the median sales price for single-family homes last month was up 17.2% year over year at around $375,000. For reference, the median sales price was only $345,500 in September 2022. Inventory in Myrtle Beach is up 100% year over year, but we still only have 2.5 months’ worth of supply. Any market with fewer than six months of inventory is considered a seller’s market, so our market is almost a super seller’s market. There just aren’t enough houses out there for home prices to drop dramatically. “It’s still a good time to sell if you need to move. ” Meanwhile, condo sales are following a similar trajectory to home sales. Condo sales are down 49.6% year over year, but prices are still up 19.2% year over year to $261,421. That being said, condo supply has increased significantly more than single-family home supply. In fact, condo supply has increased by 214% year over year. As a result, condo prices are down month over month, even though they are still high overall. So does it make sense to sell your home or condo in this environment? In my opinion, yes—if it’s the right move for you. People are still relocating to our area, and these buyers are serious about getting into a home quickly. They may be willing to offer you a great deal for your property since inventory is so low. Our goal is to keep you informed so you can make the best decision possible about your largest asset. Call or email us if you have questions about anything I talked about today or something else. I look forward to hearing from you.

Everything you need to know about this crazy housing market. Massive news for our housing market: Home and condo sales are down almost 50% month over month. What does this mean for buyers and sellers in our market—are we heading for a crash? In today’s market update, I’ll cover these things and more to ensure that you can make an informed real estate decision in Myrtle Beach.  First, let’s address the big news—single-family home sales are down 43.8% month over month, which could have major implications for our market. However, the average price has surprisingly not fallen yet. In fact, the median home price is still up 13.3% year over year, which is abnormally high. Prices aren’t quite as high as they were during the peak of our market, which was in April, but they are still extremely high considering how much our market has slowed down. Currently, the average sales price in our market is $446,693.  So why is our average price still so high even though sales are down? The main reason is our lack of supply. Inventory is up 92% from this time last year, so it may feel like we have a lot of homes on the market. However, supply was so scarce last year, that even a 92% increase isn’t enough to significantly affect prices. We only have 2.9 months of inventory, which is very low. For context, anything less than six months of inventory is considered a seller’s market. Meanwhile, buyer traffic is down 41.3% from this time last year. This number makes sense considering our lower number of sales. If you are looking to purchase a home, you will have less competition right now.  “Prices aren’t quite as crazy as they were during the peak of our market, but they are still extremely high.” Condo sales are reflecting what’s happening in our single-family market. The average condo is selling for $234,000, which is less than the peak of our market but still up year over year. Inventory is up a whopping 187% year over year, but we still only have 2.3 months of supply. It seems as though the market has stabilized at a more comfortable interest rate after the initial shock of higher rates.  What does this mean for you? First, it’s still a great time to buy or sell a home. The holidays are an emotional time for a lot of people, and buying or selling a house is inherently emotional. Plus, people tend to reflect on their lives and plan for their futures during this time of year, so if a move is in their plans, you can make a deal with them.  Second, you need an agent with a lot of tenacity. Our market has shifted, and you can no longer rely on someone who doesn’t take real estate seriously as a full-time career. We’ve seen many agents get out of the business during these tough times, and it’s easy to see why: When the market was on fire, anyone could sell a home. Now, the process takes much more work, so who you hire matters more than ever.  My team and I strive to give our clients the best service possible. We’ll tell you what you need to hear, not just what you want to hear. We’ve been experts in this industry for a long time and have seen markets like this before. We know what works and what doesn’t, so if you are looking to get the best deal possible, please call or email us anytime. We’d love to be your real estate resource!

Buyers and sellers need to understand what’s happening in our market. “What’s happening in our real estate market?” People ask me this all the time, and I understand why. Things have changed a lot in our area recently, so today, I’ll share the latest numbers with you. Here’s the short version: Single-family home sales are down, but prices are actually up a little bit. Specifically, single-family sales are down 28.1% year over year. In October 2022, we had 477 home sales, while in October 2021, we had 592.  As I mentioned, the good news is that prices remain high despite decreasing sales. The median price in October 2022 was $359,577, which is actually 12% higher than it was this time last year. In fact, prices are even up month over month; in September, the median price was $356,000. The average sales price was $454,000 in October 2022, which is also a 12% increase year over year.  Why are prices increasing despite decreasing home sales? This phenomenon could be due to our extremely limited supply. Inventory has increased 53% year over year, but that still only leaves us with 2.3 months of supply. This means that if no new homes entered the market, it would take about 2.3 months for all of them to sell at our current pace. For reference, six months of inventory is considered a balanced market, and anything less than that favors sellers. “Typical agents are running scared from this market, but our team is doubling down.” This is one of the main reasons why our market is completely different from 2008: We have yet to reach the amount of inventory we had before the pandemic. The number of new listings hitting our market is down 24% year over year. In fact, there were only 554 new listings in all of Grand Strand in October. 814 in June 2022 was the peak for new listings.  While low supply is currently protecting home prices, we aren’t sure how long it will last. A lot of investors are cashing out near the peak of the market while they can. One indicator of a slowing market is that condo sales are down 39% year over year. The condo market is usually affected before single-family homes, so this could indicate where things are heading. Despite this, condo prices also remain high; they were up 19.5% year over year in October 2022.  Generally, our market still has high demand. Investors still want to purchase in our area, and people are still moving here from all over the country. To help buyers, our team has had to get a little creative by getting sellers to agree to pay for 2-1 buydowns. This helps buyers lower their interest rates, and we can often negotiate so that there is no upfront cost. Typical agents are running scared from this market, but our team is doubling down.  Just take our website, for example. We currently have 69,935 active and registered buyers who trust us to help them purchase a home. We outspend your run-of-the-mill agent 100 to one on marketing, and it pays off. Since we’re made up of a team of specialists, each member has one job they understand inside and out. This way, you get the absolute best in every aspect of your home purchase or sale.  You deserve the best, especially in this market. You can click here for a free home valuation and here for a home search in Grand Strand. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call us. We are always willing to help.

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast With Blake Sloan Week Of 11-13-22

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast With Blake Sloan Week Of 11-05-22

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast With Blake Sloan Week Of 10-28-22

An overview of the latest market data and what it means for you. Our latest market numbers are very interesting. The way the marketplace has shifted since the start of the year has been dramatic. Today I want to share some of the latest data with you. Cited below for your convenience are timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video. Feel free to watch the full message or use these timestamps to browse specific topics at your leisure: 0:00 — Introducing today’s topic 0:50 — 41% drop in new properties under contract & 37% drop in volume 1:35 — 25.1% fewer homes sold 1:55 — The median price is up by 7.5% 2:15 — The average price has plateaued, and is only up by 0.5% 2:50 — Buyer demand has decreased by 25%, and supply is up by 46.7% 3:15 — Showings per listing are down by 31.3% 3:25 — Condo sales are down by 23.5%, but inventory is up by 90.9% 4:40 — Over the last five years, prices have risen 71.9% 5:55 — We have 69,578 active buyers looking on our website 6:20 — Wrapping up If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me by phone or email. I’d love to help you.

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast With Blake Sloan Week Of 10-14-22

The latest numbers for our market and what they mean for you. I just finished our weekly radio show, so I have the brand new market numbers out for you, and they’re very interesting. We have seen significant declines across the board, which is what we all expected.  Single-family home sales are down 16.3% from this month last year, which is not that bad. We also had 555 sales instead of 658. Prices are still up year over year, which is good. They’re up 7.7% at $350,000, but the bad news is they’re down from the peak, which was in May at $380,000.  The average sale price is still up 6.5% year over year at $436,108. That’s also down from the peak this year at $486,984, which is about a $50,000 drop since earlier this year. That has obviously been a big change because interest rates have gone up. Some buyers have just pumped the brakes, but we have seen about an 11% drop in the average sale price so far this year. I do think this is a bit more of a normalization. We talked about that in today’s show. The market is still not even back to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the actual amount of sales and inventory.  “The good news is that it’s still a very good time to buy.” Right now, inventory is up 33.3% from the same time last year at two months worth. That’s still a very strong seller’s market. Anything six months or below is a seller’s market. We just had some success stories today where we sold multiple properties with multiple offers. However, you are seeing that competition soften as rates continue to go up. That’s what we want to see.  Condo sales are seeing a big decline as well. 522 condos sold this past August versus 699 in August 2021. Condo prices are still up, which is good—they are a bit more resilient. The median price rose year over year by 33.6% to $227,000, but that’s down from the $240,000 peak earlier this year. The average sale price is up 25.2% year over year at $261,315. However, it is also down from the peak at $276,805  Here is the interesting piece: Our supply is up by 58.3%, so we’re seeing a decline in buyers and an increase in supply. That’s why you’re seeing a softening of price. The good news is that it’s still a very good time to buy. This fall market is strong. If you’ve been thinking about selling or even making a lateral move, we have seen a big uptick in overall active properties. We’re at about 834 properties right now, and we were at 840 last week.  If you’re thinking about selling, reach out and call us. We’re still seeing those amounts of home sales right now. On today’s show, I shared that we have 69,216 active buyers on my website who are looking for properties here, so we need inventory. We have buyers from all across the country, even international ones, and we’re very good at matching those buyers with sellers.  If you ever think about selling, call me at (843) 808-SOLD. Share this with your friends and relatives. You can always go view our radio show on our YouTube channel—just search “Sloan Realty Group.” We are here to serve you and help you make good decisions with real estate. Reach out and call us for anything you need. 

Myrtle Beach Real Estate Podcast With Blake Sloan Week Of 9-10-22